New in New York

Goodbye to New York City

2007-05-27T21:20:00.000-07:00

I'm leaving, I'm gone. And yet... I'm still in a New York state of mind:

Like Anthony, I'm movin' Out

2007-05-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

The time to leave New York City has come.

"Movin' Out" - Billy Joel

Anthony works in the grocery store
Saving his pennies for someday.
Momma Leoni left a note on the door.
She said, "Sonny, move out to the country.
Aw, but working too hard can give you a heart attack,
ack, ack, ack, ack, ack;
You oughtta know by now.
Who need a house out in Hackensack?
Is that all you get for your money?
And it seems such a waste of time.
If that's what it's all about...
Momma, if that's moving up, than I'm moving out.

Mmm I'm movin out
mm hmm, Oo Hoo...

Seargeant O'Leary is walking the beat.
At night he becomes a bartender.
He works at Mr. Cacciatorre's down on Sullivant Street,
Across from the medical center,
And he's trading in his Chevy for a Cadillac,
lac, lac, lac lac,lac;
You oughtta know by now,
If he can't drive with a broken back,
At least he can polish the fenders.
And it seems such a waste of time,
If that's what it's all about...
Momma, if that's moving up, than I'm moving out.

Oo I'm movin out, Oh oh, Oo hoo...

You should never argue with a crazy,
ma, ma, ma, ma man;
You oughtta know by now.
You can pay Uncle Sam with the overtime
Is that all you get for your money?
And if thats what you have in mind
yeah if thats what you're all about..
Good luck moving up, cause I'm moving out.

Oo I'm movin out
mmhmm Oo hoo uh-huh mmhmm...

I'm movin' out!

A friend in town

2007-05-21T23:20:00.001-07:00

Sunday morning, Sunday Evening

2007-05-03T12:51:00.000-07:00

I woke up to the electric sound of The Star-Spangled Banner... and I went to bed under the moonlight... reflected on the East River:

Spanish dinner in NYC

2007-05-02T23:51:00.001-07:00

The Village Green With Paloma

2007-03-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

A walk around the Greenwich Village on a sunny spring day:

Lunch & "Siesta" in Central Park

2007-03-28T16:11:00.000-07:00

NY Street Corners

2007-03-24T13:22:00.000-07:00

At Johnny Rockets

2007-03-12T14:02:00.000-07:00

This is the place to go for a fun weekday night: good food, good music, and good company!

Playing the saw

2007-02-28T13:03:00.000-08:00

This is a great instrument to play in the subway. It's no violin and it's way more sophisticated than the harp. If you thought it was just a tool, think again. And... look at her face!

Snowy Valentine's!!

2007-02-14T15:52:00.000-08:00

This morning Manhattan was covered in snow. Hunter College was white and cold:

The subway exit/entrance in 68th Street:

Going to lunch after class. Here's Lee, Camille, camber and I walking down Lexington Avenue:

And of course, there had to be a snow-ball fight. Lee and I, one on one:

>

And Mr. Snow Coin-Eyes:

White New York

2007-02-01T22:50:00.000-08:00

February is here, and it came with snow!!

New Yorkers walking their dog in Central Park.

Christmas Brunch!!

2006-12-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

An early Christmas celebration, with the friends at the dorms. The Holidays have started already, and we are happy in New York. This was the last Sunday Brunch with all the "Meeps" together, since Ron and Kate won't be coming back to NY for the second semester. Here is a glimpse of out little par-tay!
Camille, the French master flips a crepe!

Mary and I made up our little Christmas song:

Here comes Cami, with our Christmas tree.
Alison and Ron, here's your Christmas song.
Stefanie and Amira, we know we ain't Shakira,
But we'll dedicate this song to our friend Kate.
Mary and Paloma...shbllalaoma!!
To the 10th floor gang,
Where we like to hang,
A very Merry Christmas...a very Merry Christmas!!

Tuba Christmas

2006-12-10T20:45:00.001-08:00

Jingle Bells at Rockefeller Center:

Park

2006-12-06T10:11:00.000-08:00

The magic of Park Avenue with Christmas lights:

Lexington

2006-12-06T10:04:00.000-08:00

It's night, and Christmas is near. Lexington Avenue shines with traffic lights and the Chrysler building.

NY Knicks

2006-11-26T13:05:00.000-08:00

Well, we lost. I guess Michael Jordan's spirit is still around the Bulls.

But the home cheers for the New York Knicks left the Chicago team out of breath.

Toy Stores

2006-11-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

Today was a rainy day. So the best thing to do was to explore Fifth Avenue in search of the best toy stores.
This was F.A.O. Schwartz, my favourite:

The big piano

Old toys, like this "Perry Mason"

And the classic Disney Store:

The decorations

And my personalized Mr. Potato Head!! Everyone could pick out the different parts of the body and make their own potato!

Grove Street

2006-11-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

Does anybody recognize this building?

The "FRIENDS" building, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

Opera

2006-11-04T22:59:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went to see the opera Cosí fan tutte.

New York City Opera, at Lincoln Center:

Our party.

Halloween!

2006-10-31T22:21:00.000-08:00

October 31st. Happy Halloween. Let's celebrate. Let's put some costumes on!! Everyone at the dorms got dressed up:

Mary (lady of the night), Jorge (strange cat), Tyler (Waldo, from Where is Waldo?), Heather (fairy) and the other girl whose name I don't know (wearing undies), haha!

Top row: Me (mouse), Camille (rock-star), Amira (mouse), René (entertainer), Kate (devil), Anissa (pumpkin), Carole (cowgirl), Yulia (sailor).

Second row: Jen (Albert Einstein), Tuesday (singer Sierra).

Alison, Me, and Amira as the Three Blind Mice.

It was fun how everybody in the streets recognized our characters and yelled out "Hey, three blind mice!" or "Can you see where you're going?" Some people even sang for us the rhyme:

Three blind mice, three blind mice, see how they run, see how they run, They all ran after the farmer's wife, Who cut off their tails with a carving knife, Did you ever see such a thing in your life, As three blind mice?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Fall Frenzzy

2006-10-30T21:15:00.000-08:00

Today there was a Fall Frenzzy (a fun gathering celebrating the fall season) at the dorms. Since Halloween is tomorrow, we also made it a costume party, with music, snacks and pumpkins!!

Carving pumpkins.

Stefanie, our own Little Red Riding Hood.

David and I. He, an over-sized hairy baby. Me, a lame but happy cowgirl.

Super- Sperm, showing off at the costume competition.

Uhh... well one of these is the right one!!!

The Crown of the Chrysler

2006-10-22T14:10:00.000-07:00

Chrysler Building

He stands up to the Emperor of the state. He lights his crown and lights the sky. In this town, he is King.

The Brooklyn Bridge

2006-10-20T17:12:00.001-07:00

The first settlement in Brooklyn was in 1636 by Dutch Farmers. On January 2nd, 1870 began the construction of the bridge by John Augustus Roebling. The oppening ceremomy was not until May 24th 1883. Now, Brooklyn is just another neighborhood of New York City. Before, it was a whole other town. And its bridge is one of the wonders of the Big Apple.

Plane crash

2006-10-11T20:31:00.000-07:00

Images from plane crash on 72nd street and York Avenue, in the Upper East Side.

Getting to the crash scene, you can see smoke coming out of the building.

Helicopters, ambulances, news teams gathering.

The crowd looks up.

Jazz and Barbecue

2006-10-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night. Midtown Manhattan. Memphis Baby Ribs with a side order of french fries. Live Jazz. Excellent.

Church on Sunday

2006-10-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

A stage. Red curtains. A band playing pop-rock; drums, guitar, base, piano, a lead singer. The audience dancing along.

Will you believe this was church?

Very blue

2006-10-07T21:45:00.000-07:00

Tonight, we went to Astor Palace Theatre to see a show called Blue Man Group. The performance consists of unconventional forms of percusion, creating the sounds of a drum with hard plastic pipelines. The three stars of the show were dressed in black and wore a blue paint face mask. The ceilings of the theatre were covered with colored pipes and the stage was decorated with black lights and glow-in-the-dark paint.

Fantastic music and amazing lighting effects combined with sarcastic humor; The blue men were mutants that observed humans and pointed out the ironies of our kind, like the fact that we go to a ciber coffee shop and ignore those around us while we concentrate our eyes on a screen to talk to people who aren't even there.

The sounds of bang, bum, drum drum drum bang bum boom babapa boom surrounded us. My mouth fell open and stayed that way for most of the show. The blue men poured red and yellow paint on their drums, so when they played them, the paint splashed and made a colored spectacle on stage!

At one point, the three men came off stage and started to walk among the audience. They came towards us. And from the ceiling they pulled on tens of toilet paper rolls that covered us, and the rolls would never end, and paper continued to roll down on us, and then we got up and started pulling toilet paper ourselves and covering each other with it while lights flicked on and off and the black lights made us all glow in the dark to the sounds of percusion.

Here's the proof. Toilet paper covered me up to my nose. When the show ended and I tried to get up, I was tied down by meters and meters of toilet paper around my arms and my neck. A blue Saturday night can't get any better!

Coffe, Shopping and Dinner

2006-10-06T07:10:00.000-07:00

Ok, so shopping is not my thing. But after an afternoon of talking, slowly sipping my delicious frupuccino while I sat with a friend by the window of a coffee shop on 5th Avenue... In fact, I hadn't gone shopping in New York yet (except for grocery), so time had come. Shopping here is really like shopping anywhere else. Once you enter a store, you abandon the city. There are jeans, shirts, sweaters on one side; on the other side is a loooong line for the fitting room and an even longer line at the cashier. However, it was fun. I went with my friend Camille, who claims to have a sixth sense to find the cute clothes!

Now I can say I've gone shopping in New York, and it's true. I bought myself a scarf! It's starting to get cold.

5th Avenue, just under the Empire State Building.

Full moon in Manhattan.

And because the magic of living in The City is never making plans in advance (because they simply come up as you go), Camille and I got back to the dorms but went right back out again! We joined another group of friends who were going to have dinner. What type of food? I don't know. What kind of place are we going to? I don't know. Where is this place? I don't know. But I'm going!!

We ended up in Corner Cafe Shop, a little restaurant in the corner of Broadway and Bleecker Street. I promise you something: if you come, I'll take you there.

Sunday

2006-10-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

What is Sunday without Sunday brunch? The meal between breakfast and lunch, has now become our little tradition at the dorms. We meet up on the tenth floor, where we make peanut butter and jelly sandwitches, jellow, brownies, bagels, coffe, orange juice and all the other good stuff!

Mary, Amira, Camille, Alison, and I:

Imagine. This is a tribute to John Lennon in Strawberry Fields, Central Park.

It is right across the Dakota building in the Upper West Side, where Lennon was shot; and where Yoko Ono still lives. It is perfect to take a walk up there on a Sunday afternoon, and let your mind loose, let your mind imagine.

Roof tops

2006-10-01T05:17:00.000-07:00

In between classes, it is refreshing to go up to the Hunter College roof top and have some fresh air. Magnificent view, the perfect spot, a great book. Anywhere you look, you'll see windows and chimneys. You have climbed yourself to the top of a skyscraper, and Manhattan is at your feet.

San Genaro in Little Italy

2006-09-23T11:37:00.000-07:00

The festival of San Genaro has been running for the past few days in Little Italy, the italian hood of New York.

Crowds, smells of sweets and grilled all mixed in the air, lights, and lots and lots of music.

Here's a little rock n' roll:

"Johnny B. Goode," originally by Chuck Berry (1955).

American Gondola

2006-09-22T14:24:00.000-07:00

Who's to say that romantic boat rides in a gondola can only be seen in Venice?

I saw one in Central Park. The question is: what can't you find here?

Taxi!?

2006-09-17T08:55:00.001-07:00

In Manhattan most cars are yellow. Many are black or gray. Some cars have other colors, but very few. Lincoln, Mercury, Buick, Hyundai and Chevrolet. The yellow ones are all Ford. New York yellow taxi-cabs are here and there, they fill the streets, they fly past avenues and they race each other.

There are over 12, 050 taxis in the city. If you watch from a corner and count the cars that pass by, most likely 8/10, 7/10 and very often 10/10 cars will be yellow cabs. Stopping a cab here is called "hailing," all you have to do is put your arm up as if you were the Statue of Liberty, and they will come to you. They are loved by New Yokers because they are magical, but they are also hated because they cause incredible traffic jams.

(I love them, I just take the subway...)

Roller-dancing

2006-09-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

Not roller-skating. Not roller-blading. Not dancing.

Roller-dancing. So it's true: If you can't find it in New York, it doesn't exit!

September Hearts

2006-09-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

I walk down Chambers, Centre Street and Church Street on a sunny September morning. Five years ago, these streets had an early snow-fall; They were covered in white ash. Today, they are covered with people who have come to remember.

World Trade Center Site.

2006-09-12T09:00:00.003-07:00

Across a fence were hung messages and drawings sent to New York from children around the country. One of them read like this: "Dear New York. I heard about what happened to you. I am sorry, but I know everything will be O.K."

Another boy sent this:

It reads: "Dear God. Tell those in heven that is was okay that they were scared and that avry body on the plane went to heven."

2006-09-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

One six-year old tried to teach Mr. Bush a lesson by sending him the following letter: "Dear Mr. President. May you kill because someone else does? The answer is no. My brother is in the Marines. A bomb can kill and hurt many people. We should love one another. Yours truly, Nigel."

Some others remained...

... all American.

2006-09-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

But when it comes to grief,

the pain is inside each of us.

2006-09-12T07:35:00.000-07:00

For those who will never be whole again, here is a bit of hope by

a little girl:

"If you have a broken heart, here is a new one."

Picnic at Central Park

2006-09-10T11:20:00.000-07:00

It would appear that New York is such a jungle itself, that it wouldn't need any green areas to compensate. Central Park, however, lies flat on the middle of Manhattan. Once you enter through one of its walkways your mind erases any trace of the city behind. You can walk for hours and the park will never end. Or you can sit and have some raspberry jelly and bread and some orange juice. It's all you need for a picnic at Central Park; the sunset you'll have to wait for.

Little White Men

2006-09-07T10:41:00.001-07:00

In Manhattan traffic lights go red, yellow, and green for cars. Pedestrians, intead, get a hault sign from an orange hand and a go sign from a little white man.

The little white man is made up of tiny white light bulbs, and when some of them break, the little white man can become a decapitated little white man, or perhaps a one-legged little white man.

The little white man always walks to his left, but that's because this is New York, and on the east coast most people are democrats.

The little white man is on every corner of the city. If you walk around Manhattan, though, don't wait for the light to turn green; You'll be waiting forever.

The Flatiron

2006-09-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

This is the Fuller Building. It was designed by Daniel Burnham, in a Beaux-Arts style. If you look at it from the front, you'll see that it resembles an iron. That's why in 1902, when it was finished constructing, New Yorkers called it The Flatiron. Today, it is better known for its nickname than for its real name. At first, people made bets on how long it would take the wind to bring it down, but it's been holding straight for over a century. It stands on a triangle, on the crossing of Fifth Avenue and Broadway. If you look at it from the side of either avenue, you'll see what appears on the picture: an apartment building in which the people living there have to walk side-ways to get to the bathroom.

Open to everyone

2006-09-04T17:08:00.000-07:00

Now that New York is hosting the US Open Tennis Championship, a widescreen has been set up at Madison Square for all to watch. Andy Roddick's fans sit on the benches and on the floor for hours, while their idol sends the tiny yellow ball back and forth. Anyone who walks by is welcome to stay; Even children gather around holding tennis rackets and playing with their dads. Yesterday, many watched tennis star Andre Agassi say goodbye. In New York City, the US Open is open to everyone.

NYC umbrellas

2006-09-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

In the fashion capital of the world, rainy days won't stop anybody from showing off their latest purchase. For only $2 you'll find a modern umbrella with a combination of obtuse and acute angles, that comes in black or any preferred color and in standard size. They are on sale on (absolutely) every corner. Tourists, locals, adults and children all enjoy its service. Throw out your old classic umbrella and wake up to New York City's ultimate model!

The Dream

2006-09-01T20:17:00.000-07:00

Having a dream come true is something that takes getting used to. You wake up one morning and walk the streets of Manhattan, and then you make a turn on Third Avenue and see the Chrysler Building. You think wow. And that’s how you know, this is what it’s like.